America's Got Talent: Audition show 1

This year's season premiere of America's Got Talent was about the same as last year's and the previous one: same montage of bad and good acts, instant reactions from the host backstage, the same type of comments from Piers, Sharon and the Hoff, and the last act being one where the contestants have a touching story and are great performers.

The main difference was the change in host -- Nick Cannon took over for Jerry Springer -- and the fact that a contestant, whose act was singing and playing guitar, decided to profess his love to The Hoff! That was probably the highlight of the entire two-hour premiere.

Before I go on with quick remarks about some of tonight's act, let me comment Nick Cannon's job as host: he's not that bad. Then again, he's not that good either. What I've seen of him in the premiere was pretty much what Jerry Springer did last year: some instant reactions during the performances and some interacting with the contestants or their family members. Based solely on this episode, I'd say Nick is pretty much like Jerry. His ultimate test will be when the performance episodes start and Nick must read the teleprompter. Jerry was terrible during the performance episodes, let's hope Nick knows how to act like a human being and not a robot then.

Some of the acts I didn't enjoy:

Most of the performers who've been doing that "thing" for at least 10 years and think they are the best in the world!

Andy "Cheap Shot" the rapper. Need I say more?

The fire dancer who caught her hair on fire!!!

Moses Laham who can turn his feet 180 degrees (ouch!) and who can walk that way. It's a trick, not an act.

Shine, the happiest singing group on earth. Nick was right about them, they probably don't know they are bad at singing and stage performance. And they've been doing that for 10+ years!!!

The Positive Brothers and their superhero-type suit.

EmpeROAR. Three letters to sum my impression of this... whatever it was: WTF?

The Yodeler who sounded like a chicken.

Joseph Maracina the impressionist who couldn't do an impression to save his life.

Some of the acts I don't know what to think about:

Brad Byers who showed us a fishing trip gone terribly wrong. One word: Ouch! As painful to watch as it was to watch the sword swallower last season.

David Johnson was not that good or that bad of a singer/guitarist but you have to admit his "Ode to the Hoff" was so damn funny. If he can continue to write humorous songs and sing them well enough, he may go through a few rounds.

The sweetheart arealists where not that bad but that kissing made me feel like we were in their bedroom. They could have a good act but they need to stop with the kissing all the time. As it was said on the show, Bruce and Simone need to get a room!

Paradizo Dance was an impressive act considering how strong the woman is, but the dance routine was not that entertaining. They'll need to have more cohesion and flow between their impressive movements if they want to make it far.

Some of the acts I enjoyed/loved:

The FootworKINGz dance crew. They offered an energetic and in sync routine.

The Rock & Roll President. The guy seems to be quite talented. If he can really do those 300 or so impressions, play various music instruments well and sing, the guy can definitely be a strong contender.

Rockin' Rory the dog. What an act! Not only was he able to catch the Frisbees but he grabbed some in mid-air and the owner even took part in the routine! My brain recalls seeing such an act before. Did they ever appear on Pet Star?

The EriAm Sisters delivered a strong performance, even though, as Piers said, still need some work on stage presence.

The last act. Come on, the producers know it, the show editors know it: those siblings have a touching story and delivered the goods when singing "God Bless America." Again, the last act is one the producers want us to root and vote for. Even if I would like to see less singers going through this season, you must admit those three will go far.

What did you think of tonight's performances? What act was your favorite? Is there an act that went through you think shouldn't have been given a ticket to Vegas? Let your voices be heard in comments below!

We watched. What was annoying was the fact that we saw little of some acts because of the camera panning everyone else so often that we could not actually watch most of the performances.We like Nick and the judges by the way.

I didn't watch the show, but I did see the final act replayed on another show. I'm sorry, but their chords, particularly the final one they held forever, wavered painfully off-key over and over. I think the positive reactions are more to the song choice and the sob-story than they are to the actual performance.

It reminded me of Susan Boyle's terrible performance of Memory in the semi-finals of the British version. If people hadn't been remembering her previous appearance where she was great, she never would have made the finals.

I wish I could say that I'm excited this show is back on, but I'm just not. I forgot just how painful the audition process is on this show. It makes Idol's auditions seem so wonderful in comparison. http://www.joeonthetube.com

Overall (and I still have the last half hour to zip through - thanks DVR!), last night was really lackluster. When "Ode to the Hoff" is the highpoint of the evening, you're in trouble.

Also, can't they put all of the kids on some sort of "America's Kids Have Talent" or something? Cloyingly cute children make me retch, and I think it would me more of a fair competition if they were competing against their peers and not adults (and, as an added bonus, I wouldn't have to sit through it. That 4-year-old lisping kid from last season was awful!)

Not nearly as entertaining as Britains Got Talent.The camera work was very bad. The music was also horrible, not allowing the act to be heard over it.I really do not want to see the host or the judges so much while the act is performing.Loved the 3 little girls singing as well as the 2 brothers and sister singing. The impressionist who did James Brown may be a sleeper if he can come up to his promise.

Has this show ever had a good host? Let's see, get out your Google booklet there, and you'll see that Regis was followed by Jerry Springer and now we're left with Nick Cannon. At this rate, next year the animal noises woman will be the host.